Italian cornmeal mush. Best eaten fresh out of the pan, with some good cheese laid on top and a meaty stew poured over to melt the cheese into the mush. Zillions of calories, but real northern Italian comfort food. Seriously, the only possible difference with grits is the fineness of the grind, but that's debatable. A lot of fancy restaurants let the polenta set, then slice it and maybe fry or grill the pieces, but as my grandfather said, "That's what you do to the leftovers."
Polenta:
